Experience

Experience points, commonly known as XP, are the "currency" of advancement in Lotro. There are four basic types of XP in the game.

Character XP

Gained through combat and quest completion and advances the combat level of the character. When the term XP is used without any qualifying adjective, the speaker is referring to this type of XP. For more information on this type of XP, see Character.

Crafting XP

Gained by creating items with a crafting profession and advances the character's crafting level in that given profession. For more information on the crafting system, see Crafting.

Legendary Item XP

Legendary Item Experience (abbreviated IXP or sometimes "LI XP") is gained through combat, quest completion, and Heritage Runes and advances the level of a Legendary Item.For more information on IXP, see Legendary Items.

Steed XP

Steed Experience (abbreviated SXP) is gained through combat and quest completion in Rohan and advances the level of a War-steed.

Displaying how much XP I have

There are several mechanics available to display experience in each of the above categories.

Character XP

Unlike the other forms of experience, Character Experience is NOT displayed on the Character UI; only your current level. It is only displayed as a brown bar at the bottom of the standard UI. (It will be a black bar (empty) if you are at the level cap.)

Update 11 Experience Bar

In the center of the bar will be a display showing your Current level <your current total number of experience points> / <the number of experience points at the bottom of the next level>.

The "gold" portion of that bar graphically displays this same information - your current experience with the end of the bar representing the bottom of the next level.

The "dark blue" portion of the bar represents "VIP Bonus XP."

The "light blue" portion of the bar represents "Store Bonus XP."

If you mouse-over this bar, the pop-up will display:

the amount of experience you need to reach the next level.

The remaining VIP Bonus.

The remaining Purchased Bonus.

Steed XP

Can be displayed with two functions: the Mounted Combat UI (Shift-M) opens displaying the Current Level and Steed XP for your mount across the top.

To display an "experience bar" for your mount as part of your UI: Click the button "Track" on the Mounted Combat UI. On your UI then, you can reposition this element using "Ctrl-\". It is labeled "Mount Experience."

Legendary Item XP

Open the Legendary Items UI. The experience for each LI is displayed by clicking on the tab for that Legendary Item.

To display an "experience bar" for that particular item as part of your UI: Click the button "Track" on the Legendary Item UI display for that item. On your UI then, you can reposition this element using "Ctrl-\". It is labeled "Advancement Tracker." Individual LIs will be displayed in that box if you have clicked their "Track" button.

Crafting Experience

Is only displayed in the Crafting UI. The experience you have gained for each profession is displayed on their respective tabs.

Enhanced Experience explained

As of Update 11 (May 2013) we now have "Enhanced Experience," divided into two categories.

The Game mechanic formerly known as "Rest Experience" has become "Enhanced Experience".

There are two kinds of Enhanced XP: VIP Bonus XP and Store item Bonus XP.

VIP Bonus will appear blue on your experience bar (as did Rest Experience in the past). Store Bonus will appear as light blue. Bonus experience will apply to all basic forms of experience (adventure XP, legendary, steed, etc.). If both the VIP bonus and the Store bonus are present, the VIP bonus will be used first. Store Experience boosters, like the Tome of Extraordinary Experience, can be used along with these bonuses.

VIP Bonus Experience

This is described thusly at Lotro.com: "VIPs receive: Daily +100% XP* -- * +100% XP for 30% of a level (daily upon login)."

It shows on experience bar in blue

The Total daily bonus is 30% of the total experience of current character level

Daily Reset (awarded) at 3am servertime, VIP Bonus refreshed back up to 30% of total experience of current character level

Applies to all types of experience

Stops applying when character reaches level cap (will not enhance any other experience types, not just Adventure experience)

Bonus experience will be pulled from VIP Bonus first if both VIP and Store bonuses are present.

Store Bonus Experience

Does not work in conjuction with VIP Bonus, but will be saved for use on your experience bar until after VIP Bonus

Will show on experience bar in light blue

Applies to all types of experience

Items like Derudh's Stone and Tome of Extraordinary Experience can be used in conjunction with VIP and Store Bonus experience.

Bonus apply to:

Steed Experience

Legendary Experience

Monster Kill Experience - MOB kills as well as PvMP kills

Quest Experience

Adventure Experience (deed completion, etc.)

Example:

How the new system works.

If your character level is for example 85, you need 1,155,295 XP to get to level 86.

Your daily 30% VIP Bonus will then be 1,155,295 x 0,3 = 346,589.

Bonus consumption

The total amount of XP awarded while a bonus is in effect is deducted from the "stored bonus." This may or may not change in the future.